Teen births in the U.S. see first increase in 16 years

by Brian White (Subscribe to Brian White's posts)
Dec 6th 2007 7:04PM

U.S. government staticians said this week that, for the first time in 15 years, the teenage birth rate in the U.S. increased.

The teen birth rate peaked in 1991, and somehow took an upturn from 2005 to 2006 when the rate increased three percent.

What happened? Federal officials aren't sure, stating that it just may be a blip in the last 16 years and nothing more. Some experts said that the increase was due to the ineffectiveness of abstinence-only education.

What's your thought?

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Comments (361)

Reader Comments (Page 3 of 19)

Guy 12-08-2007 @ 3:16PM

Tasha: You are married. That's a good thing.

Mom 12-08-2007 @ 2:57PM

I am twenty, and I have a nineteen month old. I am also married. If I could go back in time and wait, I would not. My husband and I receive no help from the government or anyone else. He pays the bills, and I pay for child care and some of the food. My husband is a couple years older, and has a very good job for where we live. My job pays only half of what his does (less than that w/his overtime included), but I could support myself and our son if I didn't have to pay for the expensive daycare we use. I never took a break from college (our child was born toward the end of my freshman year). I wonder if the increase in pregnancies resulted from young people choosing to start families or from a more pro-life attitude. Perhaps more young ladies are choosing to raise their children instead of giving them away in an attempt to hide their "shamefulness" and live carefree lives. A child should be welcomed, not shunned. Let's be responsible! Also, I do not drink alcohol or engage in any illegal behaviors that set a bad example or that would make law enforcement look at me like I'm Britney Spears (lol).

MACHAULK 12-08-2007 @ 6:09PM

Well, Tom is certainly right about one thing...children do need a mother and a father, preferably together in the same household of civility, love, and respect. When that isn't happening, then what? Instead of criticizing and blaming about this matter, why not look at it realistically?Instead of teaching abstinence why not "denaughtyfy" the sexual conduct of human existence and teach our youth a realistic approach. Why not arm our young people with knowledge and tools in the event that they find themselves sexually active. Why can't we tell our young people about the responsibilities and the pleasures of having sex instead of insisting they abstain from sex until marriage. Marriage doesn't solve any of the problems that plague people who are bound in a joyless, unhealthy union...with a child.
Abstinence education alone is not working. Kids are not going to quit having sex because an uneducated, christian, "doing-the right-thing", community do-gooder tells them too. It is just not a realistic approach to a problem that needs attention. And remember, even Jesus, it is purported to have enjoyed the flesh. He was no fool!

Amanda 12-08-2007 @ 2:53PM

Blaming the illegal immigrants??

I'm sure plenty of them are pregnant too young, but so are plenty of young white girls and girls of other ethnicities. I live on the edge of Appalachia and it's appalling how many white girls get pregnant as teens, it is an epidemic. And it just keeps happening, I see it all around me.
No one teaches them the details about birth control methods and understanding their body, they know it exists but they don't know the whole story which results in lots of oops pregnancies. Parents will say they don't want this to happen to their child but they then don't teach their kids anything about it!

lstone 12-08-2007 @ 3:03PM

Why is there an increase? One word..WELFARE.
Make these people start supporting thier own families and we will have less teen/single parent homes. These girls are learning from thier own mothers, get pregnant, have a baby and the rest of us idiots who actually work for a living will support them nicely! Do away with welfare programs and I am sure the problem will decrease substantially.

Rev. Kellyann 12-08-2007 @ 3:21PM

It takes a special kind of cluelessness to imagine that welfare can "support someone nicely." LOL. What color is the sky on your planet?

lstone 12-08-2007 @ 4:02PM

hmm. Let's see Kellyann. I work a full day, cannot afford to get ill, because health insurance is too big a chunk of my pay, must pay for my own heat, groceries, any medical care that I require, my own housing, car insurance, gasoline just to get to work..Wefare feeds, clothes, heats , shelters and insures these low life bums and I for one do not care to support everyone else. I clip coupons, work hard and am incensed, when the bum in front of me at the grocer has a cart full of food, that I am paying for, going home to a warm home that I am subsidizing, and can run to the ER anytime they have a runny nose. I havent seen an MD in 7 yrs because I work. So no Kellyann I dont see the world through any color glasses except for the shade of reality. I'm sorry for you though you liberal a**hole, you are supporting a world of lazy welfare bums and seem to think they have earned your paycheck!

arnie 12-08-2007 @ 2:55PM

I have been waiting for almost three years to adopt a baby. Its odd none are available for us.

AL 12-08-2007 @ 3:08PM

What would you expect when we spend billions of dollars teaching "Abstinence Only" in our schools. It is the same as an ostrich putting his head under the sand and pretending that sexual interest doesn't exsist in the teen years. Didn't work for my generation and it won't work now. Get rid of the Religious Right before they destroy this country like the Taliban destroyed Afghanistan

Anita 12-08-2007 @ 2:58PM

If these girls are getting pregnant then they are also getting STDs. I have always taught my kids "if you can't keep it zipped keep it covered." No sex till marriage has never and will never work. Kids need to be taught that sex has consequences and requires resposibility. If you aren't ready for the consequences or the responsibility then wait. Parents should keep an open mind attitude towards sex and EDUCATE their kids, don't leave up to the schools.

sandy 12-08-2007 @ 4:42PM

Teenage pregnancy is not the way to go !! Children need mature judgement and emotional support - something a teen still needs for themselves and cannot give. A person is supposed to be grownup when they have children , not grow up with them.

Jamie 12-08-2007 @ 3:05PM

It seems to be trendy these days to be a teen mom! They want a real live dolly to dress up and play with! They have no concept of what motherhood really is, and that this baby is going to grow up eventually! As a teacher I have heard young girls say how much they want a baby, and I have had to explain to them the reality of being a mother.

tom 12-08-2007 @ 3:22PM

Begin by taking responsibility for having had sex outside of marriage. Keep the child and love it, but realize there will be hardships which are a consequence of your actions.

Fiona Mackenzie 12-08-2007 @ 3:06PM

isotone--

Your position would be more credible if based on fact.

In the Third World, where welfare is unknown and people can barely feed their own without caring for others' kids, reproduction continues unhampered. Only the kids can't grow up to be healthy, contributing individuals.

Abstinence, forced poverty as a punishment, etc., are simple answers that simply do not comply with the facts.

john 12-08-2007 @ 3:09PM

It's from Mtv and all of their sex shows. The girls are watching Tila Tequila at 12 years old.

tasha 12-08-2007 @ 3:37PM

i agree that children should not be exposed to stupid crap like that! it does effect how children view themselves and how much fun they can have. notice none of these reality stars have children, atleast none that they speak of.

jojo 12-08-2007 @ 3:12PM

They've taught sex education in the school systems and birth control has been available for FREE at clinics since the 1960's. The problem is lack of parental supervision, or they have their head in the sand concerning their daughters sexual activities, plus the pregnant girls get a LOT of attention from their peers who are under the false impression that the pregnant teen is more "grown up"...there is also no "stigma" about getting pregnant because there is no longer the requirement for PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY. After all, you have WIC, welfare, social security, oh, and "good old mom, or grandma" to "babysit" for free.

Too many people are allowing and expecting their kids to grow up waaay too fast. If you don't think so, check out some of the "fashions" at JCP for example, and shame on the parents that buy that crap...if no one BUYS it, no one will stock it...simple economics. The racks were full of dresses that either looked like they were cocktail dresses or something a streetwalker would wear.

Camille 12-08-2007 @ 3:10PM

My friends and I didn't sleep with a guy because he said I love you-that's what you guys think. We wanted SEX just like the guys! We have sex drives too! I guess guys don't think so. When we say no it's because we are not attracted to the guy, or it's that time of the month or maybe there is no birth control. Sex isn't just for guys to enjoy! Men are so dumb!

Katie 12-08-2007 @ 5:15PM

Exactly Camille!!!!

Men who think women dont enjoy or want sex must be terrible in bed, and thats why they think women dont enjoy sex, because no one has enjoyed sex with them!

Val 12-08-2007 @ 4:20PM

We have more teen births because America is perfectly comfortable with the moral squalor in the popular media that worsens by the hour. I and my 12-year-old daughter bought groceries together and she took the food out of the cart just under a headline on Cosmo magazine that read "Hot, Dirty Sex". Welcome to girlhood in America, my daughter, where people live by their glands, and those who talk about sexual ethics and things like purity and morality are howled down by the condom-waving mob. Our nation is plunging ever deeper into decay and with the crashing of the US dollar internationally, and our own credit-based economy hanging by a thread, like Rome, we won't be around much longer to have to observe this. Immorality has consequences.